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Sun. Mar. 7, 2010 (Janice Kreider)

One of our gentle gardeners, Janice Kreider, talked about sometimes removing trees from their yard and the unproductive fig tree which produced no fruit. The owner wanted it cut down. (Luke 13) The gardener was reluctant to cut it down a three year old tree and pleaded for one more year, saying he’d like to dig the soil and fertilize it. If after a year the tree produced no fruit, it could be cut down. Janice referred to the yeast parable in the same chapter a small amount of yeast produces unexpected results. Where is God in the fig tree story – the landowner or the gardener? The landowner might represent an impatient absentee landlord. Janice noted that this is an unfinished story, there’s no sequel from a year later to tell us how things turned out. It is story of hope, even if faint hope. It’s also a story of patience and tolerance; sometimes we’re restless and want results now, when a bit of nurturing might eventually produce fruit. (HN) Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Mar. 7th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Feb. 28, 2010 (Charis Weathers)

Charis Weathers (now of Seattle) spoke on the Lenten theme "Where were you?" This was the question on the minds of all who loved Lazarus, because his sisters, friends and acquaintances were convinced that if Jesus, the miracle healer, had only come when called, Lazarus would not have died. The gospels do not indicate why Jesus postponed going for four days, but since his contemporaries assumed that one's soul hovers around the body for three days, waiting until after the fourth day would mean that nobody disagreed: Lazarus was truly deceased, buried and decomposing. The writer of the gospel of John portrays Jesus' miracle of resurrection as the 'final straw' which prompted the temple authorities to organize his execution, so it was no small matter on many levels. There are so many points to ponder in this story, and they often overshadow the very simple question, "Where were you?" This is a question some believers ask of God in private prayers, or turn over in their minds when their closest friends do not seem to notice their needs and suffering. Possibly one answer offered by this story is that God is indeed always present, but not in ways we expect or insist upon. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Feb. 28th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Feb. 21, 2010 (J. Evan Kreider)

The first Sunday of Lent, Evan Kreider spoke about the temptations of Jesus. They were temptations to lead a way of life not pleasing to God. Following his baptism and the announcement that he was the son of God, Jesus goes to the wilderness for 40 days, the same length of time Jewish patriarchs – like Moses - needed to complete something significant. The key question Jesus faced was “How are you going to shape this sonship?” He was tempted by magic (turning bread into stone), by success and wealth (all the kingdoms of the world), and by misuse of Scripture (throwing himself from the pinnacle of the temple). What are the temptations we face in our minds? Giving in to temptations can become a way of life and we can become blinded by the veils of rationalization. In our 40 days of Lent, will we dare to enter the wilderness of our minds and face our temptations? Jesus prayed: Lead us not into temptation. (HN) Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Feb. 21st, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Feb. 14, 2010 (Karl Brown)

On St Valentine's Day, Karl Brown offered parables illustrating differing approaches to serious engineering problems. For example, why is it that something as commonplace as the household toilet ever fail to do its job properly? Everybody knows this happens, so why have so many engineer-designers overlooked these ubiquitous flaws? In order for any design to work flawlessly, engineers must discover and admit that mistakes have been made in their designs, isolate the flaws, repeatedly correcting and testing them. If the engineer-designer look the other way, the problems continue. By contrast, one of the inventors of the personal computer admitted his initial mistakes publicly rather than veiling them (he published and distributed them with the subsequent model). 2 Cor. 3.12- speaks of people having "veils" over their minds when reading scripture. Even today, our minds can be "veiled" when thinking about things. Who will lift our veils? How do we lift our own veils, see our flaws, accept where we are wrong, stop hiding behind our veils of denial and instead accept good criticism with much thought? Perhaps recent problems with cars can serve as metaphors for our lives -- refusing to admit there are serious problems until critics force the problem into the open. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Feb. 14th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Feb. 7, 2010 (John Konrad)

John spoke about "God's grace working in and through us." NOTE: Most of this sermon summary has been redacted for privacy reasons. John assisted in setting up The Living Room, a ministry specifically to support mood-disorder-sufferers, in his Abbotsford area. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Feb. 7th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.

Sun. Jan. 31, 2010 (Laura Ericsson)

Laura Eriksson spoke on the theme, “What do we know by heart?” Exploring the possibility that we may be profoundly influenced by our childhood memories, Laura recalled that her earliest memories included worshipping in church, prayer and a yearning for beauty. What are our articulated memories? What has shaped us since birth? Jeremiah, for example, wrote that his life’s purpose was known even before he was born (Jer. 1.4-) and that he had already been appointed by God to be a prophet. His was an affirmed beginning, even though it moved him well away from his comfort zone. . The N.T. lectionary, Luke 4.18 (quoting the Jeremiah passage) tells of Jesus claimed a similar early calling from God, something we surmise he had sensed among his very earliest memories. His call was that of discrediting Judaism’s practices which ignored the love of God and made some practicing Jews feel superior to others. In this context, Jesus reminded his hometown listeners in the synagogue that God’s love is for everyone, even non-Jews such as Naaman. Jesus quite possibly knew this by heart from childhood, for it seems to echo his mother’s poem, the Magnificat, which proclaims economic justice for all and God’s love extending beyond Jewish borders. The epistle reading from 1 Cor. 13, heard primarily at weddings, was actually addressed to a small congregation that was rife with personality conflicts and deep divisions on many seemingly insurmountable issues. Paul told these troubled believers that their religion is essentially about love. This recalls what Jesus once said: “By this will people know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Many of us have likely known this teaching and others like it by heart since childhood. How does this shape our daily lives? [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, Jan. 31st, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.